Thank you for your letter dated August 30, in response from the donation submitted by the veterinarians of the Chuckanut Valley Veterinary Clinic in Burlington in memory of our toy poodle "Frankie." It was a wonderful and touching surprise, on top of their care and genuine affections for "Frank". I have attached two photos, they tell the story of Frank much better than I ever could. He was one of 425 dogs rescued from a puppy mill raid in Skagit County January 2009, estimated to be 12 - 14 years old, no teeth, missing part of his jaw due to a previous infection, mature cataract in one eye, and debarked. Frank was one of the breeding males. When rescued, he was in a 2x3 wire cage with a female poodle. As a volunteer for the rescue group, SPOT (Saving Pets One at a Time) that led the raid, we received a call asking if we could take in an old male toy poodle. We had no idea that when we said yes to this question that it would change our life. He lived to be my companion dog and he became the posted dog for the puppy mill. We went to local schools taking about the treatment of animals and the importance of spaying and neutering your pets and he made friends along the way. As so often happens with these old dogs, they give us more than we give them. The unconditional love Frank still was able to give, after the treatment and lack of care he had received in the puppy mill, was truly a tribute to the love and forgiveness only animals can give us. We had over two years with Frank, longer than we had thought, so long that we thought he might, just live forever. I don't remember Frank as a puppy mill survivor, I remember him as my dog, my buddy, the Frankster!

I would like to give a special thank you to Old Dog Haven, a rescue organization for old dogs, where Frank was a proud member. Through that group, Frank's medical expenses were covered 100%.

Ken & Robyn M.